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Policy & Law > FOIA
    
Electronic Freedom of Information Act
  • FOIA Exemptions
  • FOIA Regulations [PDF]
  • Privacy Act Regulations [PDF]
  • FOIA Fees and Fee Waivers [PDF]
  • How to Submit a FOIA Request to the USPTO
  • US Department of Commerce FOIA Home Page
  • US Department of Justice, Office of Information Policy
  • The FOIA Officer operates within the Office of the General Counsel (OGC)

    Within the USPTO Web site you will find a wealth of public information available at your fingertips. If the information you are seeking is already publicly available somewhere on the USPTO Web site, you will be able to review it on-line or download it for future use.

    A great place to start is the USPTO Site Index., which links to recent publications and reference materials.

    The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is a federal statute which affords any person the right to obtain federal agency records, unless the records (or a part of the records) are protected from disclosure by any of the nine exemptions contained in the law. On October 2, 1996, President Clinton signed into law the Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments of 1996 (E-FOIA, for short). E-FOIA makes it possible for you to have electronic access to the USPTO FOIA Reading Room, offering such information as Final Agency Decisions and our most frequently requested FOIA documents e-business system.

    If you check all these resources for public information but you still don't see what you need, then you may consider filing a FOIA request. FOIA is a federal law which entitles you to any federal agency record as long as one of the FOIA exemptions does not apply. Only records within the USPTO's possession and control as of the date of receipt of a FOIA request will be searched.

    FOIA Reading Room

    Indices:

    Most Frequently Requested Documents e-business system

    Final Decisions of the
         Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences e-business system
         Office of the Commissioner for Patents
         Office of the Commissioner for Trademarks
         Office of the Director (Enrollment and Discipline) e-business system
         Trademark Trial and Appeal Board e-business system

    Notices of Suit filed with U.S. District Courts for Patents and Trademarks e-business system

    Search Patentse-business system
    MPEP: Manual of Patent Examining Procedure

    Search Trademarkse-business system
    Acceptable Identification of Goods and Services Manual e-business system
    Design Search Code Manual e-business system
    TMEP: Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure e-business system

    Press Releases

    USPTO Annual Reports
    FY 2008 USPTO Annual FOIA Report [PDF]

    Non-USPTO Resources:

    [On GPO Web Site:] GILS: the Government Information Locator Service


    Is there a question about what the USPTO can or cannot do that you cannot find an answer for? Send questions about USPTO programs and services to the USPTO Contact Center (UCC). You can suggest USPTO webpages or material you would like featured on this section by E-mail to the webmaster@uspto.gov. While we cannot promise to accommodate all requests, your suggestions will be considered and may lead to other improvements on the website.

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